Vehicles of Mass Destruction

Chinese Driver Runs Down 13 Students

12.26.12 2:30 PM ET

Not the Onion. (And the story reminds me of the famous South Park episode "Grey Dawn.")

A man in northern China rammed a car loaded with a gas tank and firecrackers into a group of middle schoolers, injuring 13 in the country's latest attack on students. The man attempted to set off an explosion after running down 23 students at Fengning No. 1 Middle School in northern China's Hebei province on Monday, the state-run Xinhua news agency said. The man is in police custody.

Xinhua didn't identify the man in its report Tuesday, but said his daughter was killed in a suspected murder case three years ago and he has a history of lodging complaints with authorities. Xinhua said the man did not act under the influence of alcohol or drugs.